That Special Time of the Year
by demigod-and-thief18
Summary: A series of one-shots about holidays that Percy and Annabeth have spent together. Some while they're dating, some while they're not. Percabeth (obviously)


**Yeah, so while I first started writing this it was on Valentine's Day but I couldn't finish it because my cousins came to town and now when I'm finishing it it's like five days after Valentine's Day, so I'm just going to make this a series of one-shots of Percabeth holidays.**

**Important: this is going to be a one-shot of a Valentine's Day before Percy and Annabeth got together :) so right now they're fifteen and the Battle of the Labyrinth had happened the summer before, so you can kind of tell when the story takes place. Enjoy the story!**

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Percy hated Valentine's Day. He used to like it (well, he didn't really mind it), but the Aphrodite cabin made it a huge deal. They made Chiron put together a Valentine's Day dance, special food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they would spy on all the couples and to-be-couples.

Percy usually wasn't at camp during February, but he had a mission to do. Annabeth was already at camp and he decided to stay for a few days and hang out with all of his friends. But just his luck, he had to stay on Valentine's Day.

Percy got up on Valentine's Day morning and got dressed, forgetting the love filled holiday. He trudged to the pavilion for breakfast and heard giggling and whispering behind him. He turned around, his hand ready to uncap Riptide, but no one was there. Percy shook his head and just continued to his table.

For breakfast there was only one thing: heart shaped pancakes. But of course Percy wasn't protesting. He loved pancakes. He just wished that they were blue.

As Percy ate his eyes drifted over to Athena table and he locked eyes with Annabeth's beautiful gray ones. Wait, did he just call Annabeth's eyes beautiful?

Percy shook his head, as if physically trying to get the thought out of his head.

"What's wrong, Perce?" Grover asked, sitting down next to Percy.

Percy sighed. He didn't even bother trying to lie. Grover could read emotions and knew that Percy was lying in an instant. "It's Annabeth."

"Again?" Grover raised an eyebrow. "Perce, stop being so stubborn. You either like her or don't like her."

"Of course I like Annabeth! She's my best friend!"

"I mean _like like_ her." Grover winked and started eating his fork. "But seriously dude, Annabeth has been the only thing we've been talking about ever since you've been visiting."

Percy's face burned and he shrugged. "You're the only one I can actually talk to. I'd talk to Beckendorf, but he'd tell Silena and she would go nuts. I wouldn't dare tell the Stolls or Chris or Clarisse. And there will be no way in Hades that I'd talk to Annabeth about how I feel about her."

"Dude, its Valentine's Day. Just tell her today and maybe if she doesn't feel the same way about you then you can later tell her that the Aphrodite cabin put a love potion in your drink." Grover swallowed his soda can. "It's simple."

Percy stared at the satyr. "Even I know that that idea won't work. And I'm not the smartest person here."

Grover sighed. "It was worth a try. It'd be fun to see you try to convince Annabeth that."

"Thanks a lot, man. You're so helpful." Percy said sarcastically.

"I know." Grover grinned, apparently not noticing Percy's sarcasm. "But here's a better idea: ask her to dance tonight and just tell her, or maybe make a move."

The conch horn blew, interrupting Percy and Grover's conversation. They said their goodbyes and walked off into different directions.

Percy mentally thought about his schedule. Since he was the only one in the Poseidon cabin, he sometimes had to go to classes with other cabins. His first lesson of the day was archery, and just his luck, he had it with the Athena cabin.

Percy trudged to the archery range and grabbed a bow and arrow, silently praying to Artemis and Apollo that he wouldn't accidentally kill anyone.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain." A voice interrupted Percy's thoughts. He jumped and turned around, his eyes meeting Annabeth's. She had a smirk on her face and her eyes were playful.

"Hi, Wise Girl." Percy smiled at his best friend.

"Ready to almost kill someone today?" Annabeth asked as she grabbed her bow and arrow.

Percy glared at her. "Who knows? I might hit the middle of the target today!"

Annabeth snorted. "In your dreams, Seaweed Brain."

Percy sighed. "Yeah, not even in my dreams. I'll never hit the target."

Annabeth's eyes softened a little, but not much. "Here, I'll help you."

She dragged Percy over to one of the open targets and showed him how to properly hold the bow and arrow.

"And then you just release." Annabeth finished, letting go of her arrow and it hit the middle of the target.

Percy tried to do what Annabeth said, but he hit a tree instead.

Annabeth grabbed a new arrow and gave it to Percy. "Let me help you this time." She helped Percy into the starting position and put her hand over his, making Percy's heart leap.

"Now you slowly pull back," Annabeth pulled on Percy's hand and together, they pulled the arrow back. "Make sure it's straight."

Percy's heart was pounding and he hoped that Annabeth couldn't hear it. They were standing so close. In fact, Percy could lean in a couple inches and kiss her…but he couldn't. What would Annabeth think? She'd probably punch Percy and then never talk to him again.

Percy let go of the arrow and watched it fly towards the center, hitting it.

"Hey, I did it!" Percy said triumphantly.

"Yeah, with my help." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Now try to do it by yourself, Seaweed Brain."

Percy grabbed his arrow and tried to do what Annabeth instructed, but failed miserably. He sighed, but didn't ask for help. Instead, for the rest of the hour, he planned on how to ask Annabeth dance as he shot arrows.

The day seemed to pass quickly, to Percy's dismay. He hoped that somehow the night would never come. But the gods never really seemed to do what Percy wished would happen.

The dance was an hour away. It was a formal dance, so all of the campers were forced to wear either a dress or a suit. Percy had to borrow one of Grover's (apparently Grover had a few since he went on a lot of dates with Juniper) and he immediately vowed that he would never wear a suit again.

As Percy started going over how he would ask Annabeth to dance, he remembered something. He got a letter from his mom and he was leaving first thing the next morning. Grover was going to make Percy ask Annabeth to dance and he knew that he couldn't get out of that.

As Percy was lost in thought, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Percy called.

Beckendorf walked in. "Hey, Perce, you going to the dance?"

Percy sighed. "Yeah, the Aphrodite cabin is making everyone go."

Beckendorf chuckled. "Yeah, Silena even made me wear a suit and tie and everything. Girls can be so pushy."

Percy laughed. "Yeah, talk about it."

"So, are you going to ask Annabeth to dance?" Beckendorf asked, a smug tone to his voice.

Percy looked up sharply. "What? No, of course not!"

"Dude, you like her and she likes you. Just make a move." Beckendorf rolled his eyes.

"She doesn't like me! And what makes you think that I like her?"

"Everyone knows that. Like, everyone. You sort of make it really easy to notice." Beckendorf smirked. "You blush and stutter whenever she's around."

Percy put his head in his hands. "Then Annabeth probably knows and she'll hate me forever."

"But she likes you too."

"Um, no. She doesn't. It's pretty obvious she doesn't."

"Percy, you're not really the smartest person here. You obviously can't tell she likes you."

Percy was about to reply when Silena ran into the room. "Charlie, we need to go to the dance! It just started!"

Beckendorf looked at Percy with a look that said _help!_

Percy just smirked and said, "That's right, Beck. You need to go to the dance!"

Beckendorf glared at Percy and whispered before Silena dragged him out of the cabin, "I'll get you back."

Percy smiled, knowing that Beckendorf would never beat anyone up unless they were traitors or threatened one of his friends.

"Oh, and Percy," Silena poked her head back into the cabin. "You need to come too! And I won't take no for an answer."

Percy stood up, not even bothering to protest. He followed Beckendorf and Silena out of the door and to the pavilion, where the dance was being held.

When Percy walked in, the song _I Knew You Were Trouble_ by Taylor Swift was playing. Everyone was dancing and there were hearts on the walls all around the room.

Percy found some of his friends and walked up to them, joining the conversation.

"Percy, wow, I never thought I'd see you in a suit." Chris grinned. "I'm surprised you even came."

"I wasn't going to, but Silena made me." Percy shrugged. "And same to you, Chris. You're actually wearing a suit!"

"Of course he is." Clarisse rolled her eyes. "I may be an Ares girl, but I'm not dancing with a guy that is wearing an old camp shirt and jeans."

Percy raised his eyebrows. "Who are you and what have you done with Clarisse la Rue?"

"Watch it, Prissy." Clarisse growled.

"She's been hanging out with Silena lately." Chris whispered to Percy.

"That makes sense." Percy nodded.

They talked for a while and others began to join in on the conversation.

"Seaweed Brain, you look great!" A familiar voice exclaimed behind Percy.

He turned around and met Annabeth. "Thanks, Wise Girl. You look…" Percy trailed off, taking in Annabeth's appearance. She was wearing a gorgeous yet simple gray dress that matched her eyes and was wearing heels. Her curly blonde hair cascaded down onto her shoulders perfectly and her eyes were just stunning. She wasn't wearing make up, but she didn't need to.

"You look beautiful!" Percy exclaimed and then instantly blushed. "I mean, you look great."

It was probably just Percy's imagination, but he thought that Annabeth blushed.

"Thanks." Annabeth smiled. "So how has the dance been so far?"

"It's been good, but I don't really know what to expect. This is my first dance at camp." Percy admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets.

The night slowly passed. A few slow songs were played, but Percy chickened out every time. Finally, the DJ (Pollex, son of Dionysus) announced that the last song of the dance was going to be a slow song. The song was _1000 Years_ by Christina Perri. It wasn't the best song to dance to, but Percy still liked it.

Percy took a deep breath and walked over to Annabeth. She was just talking to a Hermes camper that Percy didn't know that well.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked cautiously.

Annabeth turned to Percy and smiled. "Yeah?"

"W-would you like t-to dance with m-me?" Percy stuttered and cursed himself silently.

Annabeth's smile grew into a grin. "I'd love to."

They walked out onto the dance floor and Percy slowly put his hands on Annabeth's waist. Annabeth wrapped her arms around Percy's neck.

"So, we haven't really gotten the chance to talk. How was that mission you were on earlier this week?" Annabeth started the conversation as they swayed to the music.

"I had to blow up a couple of safe houses that were full of monsters." Percy shrugged. "It was pretty easy. I had to do it with the Stolls, though."

Annabeth laughed. "How'd that go?"

"They were surprisingly serious and they made it a whole lot easier by being able to sneak the bombs into the houses." Percy told her. His eyes drifted past Annabeth and over to Grover, who was dancing with Juniper. Grover nodded to Percy and spun Juniper around and dipped her, motion for Percy to do that to Annabeth.

"But let's not talk about the war." Percy said, his eyes back on Annabeth. He took one of her hands and spun her around. He finished the spin with a dip and their faces were less than an inch away.

"Percy," Annabeth breathed, staring into Percy's eyes.

Percy pulled Annabeth back up and they started dancing again.

"Wow, who knew you could dance?" Annabeth chuckled.

"My mom is making me learn for her and Paul's wedding." Percy shrugged. "I've been catching on."

"So, if you don't want to talk about the war, what do you want to talk about?" Annabeth asked.

Percy was about to just confess his feelings for Annabeth, but then a memory overcame him: the kiss in Mount St. Helen's. The kiss was amazing, but was over in too quick. It was also Percy's first kiss, and since it was with Annabeth, that made it even more special.

The song was almost over and Percy still needed to tell Annabeth.

He quickly made up his mind and decided not to tell her. He didn't know how to put his feelings into words. They were too complicated. But he found himself leaning in and kissing Annabeth's cheek softly. He pulled away and smiled sheepishly at her and shrugged.

The song ended. Annabeth smiled back at Percy with her beautiful smile. "Thanks for the dance, Seaweed Brain." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek and turned, walking away quickly. She disappeared in the crowd.

Percy stared at where Annabeth was just standing. He kissed her, but on her cheek. Then she kissed him again, but on his cheek. So he sorta made a move, but chickened out. Grover is so going to laugh at that.

Pollex announced that the dance was officially over and everyone started to walk out of the pavilion.

"So, Perce," Grover walked up to Percy. "How'd it go?"

Percy was quiet for a few seconds and then said quietly, "Well, I kissed her...but on the cheek.."

Grover stared at Percy. "Did you just say 'on the cheek'?!"

"...yeah."

"Really Percy? Eh, it's not that big of a deal." Grover shrugged. "That's how Juniper and I got together."  
"I wouldn't expect anything less from you two nature freaks."

Grover glared at him, but didn't say anything about it. "So are you going to talk to her about it?"

"I can't. My mom sent a letter today and I'm leaving first thing tomorrow. I completely forgot about it until probably an hour before the dance." Percy said glumly.

"What? Really? Or are you just lying to me?" Grover asked suspiciously and studied Percy. "Nope, you're telling the truth. Well, hopefully you can talk before then. I've got to go find Juniper. See you next summer!" Grover waved and then ran (trotted?) off.

Percy wanted to say that he was too busy to see Annabeth for the rest of the night and up until he headed back to the city. The truth? He was hiding in his cabin, avoiding having to talk to Annabeth. Even if it was a simple kiss on the cheek, it was still a kiss.

As Percy headed back to Manhattan, he prayed to the gods that the next time Annabeth and he talked, it wouldn't be awkward. But he didn't get his hopes up. The gods never answered his prayers.

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**Yeah, so I hope you liked it. I didn't really know how to end it, so yeah…read and review!**


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